Look I know it’s not going to happen, but do you know how great it would be if all the Mando’s in the covert come together next episode to discuss moving planets (cause they keeping losing children and all that) but they really really like this sandy planet with enough room for them to train and move around, and Din’s like “well ☝️ if you like sand, I know a place!” And then he hauls his covert to Tatooine and finds them a lovely cave to hunker down in in the canyons near Free Town, and Din and Cobb reunite and we get to see Boba again, and and and and
It was something I had been working on for Mandocule Mondays and then didn't finish in time lol.
Grogu gets sick while on Tatooine with Din, Boba, and Fennec. din is dating the two of them, but is also dating Luke. Boba and Fennec know Din has a mystery man somewhere out in the galaxy, but (per Luke's request) don't know that it's Luke. Din also doesn't know Han, for the same personal safety reasons.
Of course, once Grogu gets sick, though, Din calls Luke for help, since he's he's the only one who can communicate with Grogu, and the only one they know with any experience about the species.
The general plot was going to go in the direction of: Luke decides to go to Tatooine to help Grogu, willingly giving up his secrecy for Din and Grogu. And Han, well, .... You know how sometimes when a dog sees and hears a vacuum, it stands in between you and the vacuum because it wants to protect you, even though it's the one shaking scared of it? That's basically Han. Han doesn't let Luke go alone, even though Luke isn't the one who's really afraid.
They ultimately put all their differences aside, and the mandocule helps take care of Grogu for a few days until he's better.
snip-it under the cut:
Grogu made a tiny noise from the other side of the room. And then again, and again.
Din was used to the sounds of him playing, making up little stories and games for himself in whatever language he used. But these were different. Listened a little closer, and sure enough, the kid was coughing.
“You alright, kid?” Din asked. They’d just landed on Tatooine a few hours before, and Grogu had seemed fine the entire journey.
Grogu responded in his Grogu way, making small sounds that were, to Din’s trained ear, less than happy.
“Alright, let’s take a look at you…”
He looked a little green -- well, greener than usual. Din slipped off a glove to gently check his temperature the way his mother always had. He didn’t notice anything unusual, but, then again, he wasn’t quite sure what usual was.
It was dawning on Din in the worst way that he didn’t know anything about what it might mean to care for a sick Grogu.
Grogu coughed in his arms again. “Alright,” Din said, “let’s go see if I can find you some soup.”
~
The sound of rattling pots and pans seemed to be enough to alter Boba and Fennec to whatever he was up to.
“You know,” Fennec said, appearing behind him without him ever registering that she was on the move, “we have cooks if you want something.”
He turned to show Grogu in the sling Luke had given him. Grogu had fallen asleep on the long journey down the stairs, and Din didn’t know if that was a good sign or a bad one.
“The kid is sick,” he said.
“What?” Boba said.
“How can you tell?” Fennec asked, poking the sleeping child’s head. Din shooed her off.
“I’m just trying to get some soup made for him,” he explained.
“Not a lot of soup in the desert, but I’ll see what the droids can do.”
~
Back upstairs, Din swaddled Grogu to keep him warm, and laid him down on his wide bed to make sure he was comfortable. Boba had promised to send some food up for them when it was ready. So now all Din had to do was sit, watch Grogu, and try not to panic.
He tapped his fingers on the mattress, trying to consider what to do. Boba could be back any minute, and he might want to stick around to try and help. Din would welcome any help, of course, but the one person he really wanted to talk to had given Din strict instructions to “not tell Boba Fett you know me, you know where I am, that we’re --”
He and Luke had spent more time figuring out how Din was going to be both honest and open with his partners on Tatooine, while also keeping Luke’s life a total secret. Thankfully, given his proximity to several criminal undergrounds, Din’s request that Boba and Fennec not ask too many questions about his new man didn’t get challenged or even questioned.
So, all in all, it probably wasn’t a smart idea to comm Luke from inside the palace while he was waiting for Boba. But Luke was the only one with any experience with the species, and he didn’t want to be making the situation worse.
Din crept into the room’s closet and commed Luke.
“Din?” Luke said on the other end. “Is everything alright?”
Din could hear a voice in the background. He knew Luke occasionally had visitors to the planet, but there was one visitor in particular Din hadn’t been allowed to meet yet. (“Because of Boba Fett?” “Because of Boba Fett.”). Din’s anxiety swelled a little, realizing just how much this call might break their one very important rule.
“I’m sorry to call you from here, it’s just … Grogu is sick. You’re the only one I know who has experience with the species.”
A voice somewhere behind Luke spoke up. “The little green guy?”
“The little green guy,” Luke confirmed. “Uh … Din, that’s Han, Han that’s Din.”
“Nice to meet you,” Din said.
“You too. Sorry about all the … yeah. Wish I could tell you Luke was the paranoid one.”
“We’ll talk about it another time,” Luke said. “Tell me about Grogu?”
Din gave a brief description. “I don’t know,” Luke confessed. “I mean, it sounds like a cold, but I can’t really tell you what might help him. I mean, I only saw Master Yoda sick once, but he died pretty fast.”
“What?!” Din yelled.
“He was like 900 years old!” Luke added hastily. “And I think I might have just annoyed him to death.”
“Typical of you,” Han said in the background. Luke didn’t bother protesting the jab.
“If you brought him back to Yavin 4, I could communicate with him, see how he feels, what he wants.”
“Or,” Han interjected, “if you’re really worried, just bring him to a doctor. Doctors on Tatooine have seen all kinds of weird things. Trust me.”
Din started to talk again when the door of his closet swung open. Din hung up the comm fast and without warning.
“What are you doing in there?” Boba Fett asked him, staring down at where Din was sitting.
“Had to make a call, I didn’t want to wake up Grogu.”
Boba nodded. If he had more questions about who Din called and why, he didn’t say anything. “I brought up a soup and some blue milk. How’s the little one?”
Din looked at the bed. “Still asleep.”
“Let him rest. If the soup gets cold or the milk gets hot, we can fix it,” Boba promised. “Did your mystery man have any good ideas?”
Din’s face got a little hot at the mention of him. “Take him to the doctor,” he said. Well, he added to himself, that idea had come from his mystery man’s mystery man.
Boba laughed. “Can’t go wrong with that, I guess. I’ll see who I can bring in from town.” Din nodded. Boba rested a gentle hand on his face, before pressing their foreheads together. “Kids get sick, Djarin. He’ll be fine.” For good measure, Boba pressed a kiss to the top of his head.
When the door closed behind Boba, Din shed his armor. He should call Luke back and apologize for hanging up, but that could wait. Luke was remarkably understanding and patient, and Din found his claim that he had once annoyed someone to death a little hard to believe.
